Safety accouchement-chair



(No Model.)

S. SWAIN. SAFETY AGGOUGHEMENT CHAIR.

vPatented Jan. 18,1898.

UNITED STATES ATnNT @rrrcn SARAH SWAIN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY ACCOUCH EM EMT-CHAIR.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,473, dated January 18, 1898.

Application filed August18, 1897. Serial No. 6%,710. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SARAH SW'AIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Safety Accouohement-Chair, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an appliance whereby a large amount of the suffering and pains incident upon childbirth may be avoided.

In my practice as midwife, which. I have followed since 1852, it has come under my observation that Indian women and those who have not become civilized are entirely free from those diseases and ailments which are the result of the confinement of modern women. These ailments are caused by the unnatural position in which the body of the woman is placed during the delivery of the child that is to say, the body is nearly always placed in a recumbent position, and therefore the muscles must do all of the work of expelling the child, the weight of the child retarding instead. of assisting the operation of the muscles, rendering labor long and pain- 111 and the violent effort of the muscles to expel the child often causing rupture of the membranes. W ith uncivilized races it is the invariable custom for women to kneel during delivery. This is natures course, for thereby the weight of the child assists the muscles in their efforts to expel the child, and the delivery is quickly and almost painlessly performed. 1 have never known of a case in which the child has been delivered in a kneeling position in which there has been rupture of the membranes, while, on the contrary, when the child is delivered while in a recumbent position rupture is almost invariably caused.

The object of my invention is to produce a chair which may be used by the modern civilized woman to comfortably support her in a natural position during childbirth, and so arranged that after delivery the chair can be quickly removed before cutting the umbilical cord, so that the mother may then lie down in comfort until the proper time arrives for cutting the cord. I

My invention comprises the various features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective side elevation of a chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a like View showing the closure removed from the passage for the umbilical cord and the braces removed from the supportlng-legs Fig. 3 is a fragmental view showing the mode of securing the ends of the frame A. in the sockets b.

In the drawings, A represents a supportingframe, which is preferably oblong and is pro vided with a central openin A for the passage of the child. This frame is provided with a passage a, leading through the frame from the opening A. This passage may be left open, but is preferably closed by means of a removable closure. This closure may consist of a combined removable arm-rest and supporting-legs B, which may be provided with sockets Z; 1), within which seat the ends of the side members of the frame A. These ends maybe secured in place by means of a key 0, operating oppositely-arranged eccentrics c c, which shoot wedge-shaped bolts (Z cl into the sockets a, provided in the ends of the side members of the frame A.

The rearend of the frame is supported upon legs 0, which for convenience in transportation are hinged to the frame to fold inward and upward thereagainst, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. To hold the legs firmly in position while the chair is in use, I provide removable braces D D, connecting the legs and thus rigidly holding them in the open position. The front legs B being rigidly fixed to the frame, by reason of the ends of the frame setting into sockets in the legs, the support thus afforded is extremely rigid and all liability of accidental displacement of the frame during use is avoided.

In order to adapt the chair for use by persons of diiferent sizes, I make the arm-rest B vertically adjustable. This I accomplish by providing a socket B, which is secured to the legs B, and by providing a stem 1), arranged to slide in the socket. By means of a set-screw b the stem is adj ustablysecured in the socket, so that the height of the arm- IGG rest may be regulated to suit the woman using the chair.

In practice when the pains are well advanced the chair is placed in position upon the bed and the patient seats herself thereupon with her arms resting upon the arm-rest and the frame A between her limbs. The body is thus brought into such position that the weight of the child assists the muscles in expelling the child from the womb, while the arm-rest aifords a convenient support and brace during muscular contraction, so that delivery is quickly, readily, and almost painlessly effected. Then the removable braces D D may be removed from the chair, as shown in Fig. 2, the legs removed from the front end of the frame, and the frame withdrawn from the rear, the umbilical cord passing through the passage a and allowing the chair to be removed Without inconvenience to either the mother or child. The regular procedure may then be followed.

My improved chair is especially designed for being folded, and carried Within a small receptacle from place to place as needed for use by the physician or midwife. It may be made of Wood, metal, or other suitable material, and the passage of the umbilical cord may be closed by a removable closure, or may be always left open and may be arranged at any suitable point in the frame without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The construction may also be varied without avoiding my claim,the construction which I have shown being only one of many ways in which my chair may be produced.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having an arm-rest extending across the front of the frame, a central opening, and a passage leading through the frame from the opening.

2. An accouchement-chair comprising an oblong supporting-frame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from the opening; and an adjustable armrest secured to the frame.

3. An accouchement-chair. comprising an oblong supporting-frame provided with a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from the opening; and a removable closure for the passage.

4. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from the opening; a removable closure for the opening; and an arm-rest secured to the front of the frame.

5. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from the opening; and a removable arm-rest secured to the front of the frame and closing the opening.

6. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening, closed excepting at the front end; supportin g-legs secured to the rear end of the frame; and a combined arm-rest and supporting-legs adapted to be removably secured to the front end of the frame and to close the passage.

7. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from such opening; a removable closure for the passage; supporting-legs hinged to the frame; an arm-rest secured to the frame; and removable braces secured to the legs.

8. An accouchement-chair comprising a snpportingirame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from such opening; supporting-legs hinged to the rear end of the frame; and a combined armrest and legs adapted to be removably secured to the front end of the frame to close the passage.

9. An accouchementchair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening; a'passage leading through the frame from such opening; supporting-legs hinged to the rear of the frame; a combined arm-rest and supporting-legs adapted to be removably secured to the front end of the frame to close the passage; and removable braces connecting the legs with each other.

10. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having a central opening; a passage leading through the frame from such opening; a removable closure for the passage; supporting-legs hinged to the rear end of the frame; supporting-legs secured to the front end of the frame; a stem-socket arranged at the front end of the frame; a stem adapted to slide within the socket and provided at its top with an arm-rest; and means for adj ustably securing the stem in the socket.

11. An accouchement-chair comprising a supporting-frame having acentral opening; a passage leading through the frame from such opening; supporting-legs hinged to the rear end of the frame; supporting-legs adapted to be removably secured to the front end of the frame and to close the passage; a stemsocket secured to the removable legs; a stem adapted to slide in the socket and provided at its top with an arm-rest; and means for removably securing the stem in the socket.

' SARAH SWAIN. Vitnesses:

ALFRED I. TOWNSEND, JAMES R. TOWNSEND. 

